Santa?
by ReganX
Summary: Alexis and Isabelle's first Christmas. Takes place nearly a year after 'Surprise'. Complete.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Although I plan to make a huge batch of mince pies and cookies to butter Santa Claus up, at this time, 'Mutant X' and it's characters do not belong to me. I didn't writ 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' either. Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray are mine, though.  
  
Author's Note: At the time of this story, the twins are nearly a year old.  
  
Author's Note II: For those who requested it, I plan to include a Jesse/Emma pairing later on in the series.  
  
Author's Note III: If the twins seem advanced for their age, please assume that it's just a part of their mutation. I know next to nothing about the development rate of infants.  
  
Author's Note IV: Just kidding! I'm going to shut up now and get on with the story.  
  
Words in / / = Thoughts.  
  
Words in * * = Italics  
  
*  
  
Chapter 1.  
  
Christmas Eve  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Come on, Jesse! You have to do it!"  
  
"I refuse. Emma, there is a level I simply will not sink to."  
  
"Please, Jesse." Her tone was wheedling. Under any other circumstances, she would have been irresistable. "Think about how happy you'll make the twins." She added persuasively.  
  
"I can't. I won't. You can't make me!"  
  
Her eyes sparkled with determination. "Oh yes I can!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Then what to my wondering eyes should appear But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer And a little old driver so lively and quick I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick."  
  
"Who dat, Gwamp?" Alexis interrupted, pointing to the illustration in the book with a plump finger.  
  
Adam smiled tenderly at the infant, exactly eight days short of her first birthday, sitting on his right knee. "That's Santa Claus, Lexi." He explained.  
  
"Santa?" From her perch on his left knee, Isabelle looked up at Adam with innocent wonder.  
  
"Who he?" Lexi demanded, not satisfied with Adam's answer.  
  
"Santa Claus is a nice old man who brings toys to children at Christmas."  
  
Lexi's deep brown eyes sparkled with excitement. "Toy?"  
  
"To *good* children." Adam added pointedly.  
  
She shot him an indignant look. "Me good!"  
  
Adam could barely keep himself from laughing aloud at that less than accurate statement. Lexi and her antics - she had swallowed Emma's comring three days previously and last week she had been caught 'fixing' Jesse's computer by shocking it - kept Sanctuary in a constant state of chaos and it's adult inhabitants permanantly on their toes, as Jesse had predicted when the twins were born.  
  
"Izzy good too." Lexi added, as though she feared that her sister might be left out.  
  
Adam gently stroked Isabelle's golden curls. "I know."  
  
Isabelle was undeniably the 'quiet twin', a peaceful, dreamy little soul, although she was not above joining her active, more exhuberant twin's activities, or abetting her in her mischief.  
  
"What do you think, Izzy?" Adam asked, seeing that her attention had been captured by the illustrations in the book.  
  
Isabelle spent a moment contemplating before answering. "Santa pitty." She pronounced, smiling up at him. Using his shirt as leverage, she pulled herself into a standing position and planted a wet kiss on his cheek. "Gwamp pitty too." She added sweetly, as if she feared that his feelings might be hurt.  
  
Adam smiled. The twins always knew how to enchant him.  
  
Lexi tugged impatiently on Adam's shirt, bored of the delay. "Wead!" She demanded imperiously, gesturing towards the book with her tiny hand.  
  
"More rapid than eagles his coursers they flew. . ."  
  
* * *  
  
Adam, learning from experience, had decided against accompanying Shalimar and Emma on their quest to find the perfect Christmas tree, choosing instead to hand them his wallet, set a limit of five trees and send them off by themselves.  
  
They brought them to the rec room to decorate them, 'helped' by the twins who were enthralled by the tinsel and sparkling decorations.  
  
Jesse sat on the couch, offering decorating advice that Emma and Shalimar paid absolutely no attention to and keeping an eye on the twins, who were playing 'dress-up' with the tinsel.  
  
He was the only member of the Mutant X team who was completely unable to tell the little girls apart - and it didn't help that Shalimar and Emma always bought them identical outfits - and, although Emma occasionally mixed them up, the twins seemed to enjoy confusing Jesse.  
  
"Uh, guys. . ."  
  
Shalimar and Emma turned at the sound of Jesse's voice to see Alexis forming a glowing ball of electricity ion her chubby hands.  
  
"Look, Mamma!" Lexi announced proudly, showing off her work. "Like Dada." She declared, clearly very pleased with herself.  
  
Isabelle imitated her sister's movements, giggling in delight at the sight of her own ball of electricity.  
  
"Ooh, pitty!" She exclaimed in awe.  
  
"Don't you dare throw those at Uncle Jesse!" Shalimar warned, following Alexis's gaze and correctly interpretting the sparkle in her eldest daughter's eyes.  
  
Alexis pouted in disappointment. "An' Em?" She asked hopefully.  
  
"Don't even think about it, Lexi."  
  
The baby scowled, her eyes briefly flashing feral yellow, but she obeyed, letting her ball of electricity fade away.  
  
Jesse breathed a sigh of relief as Isabelle followed her sister's example.  
  
Shalimar was the only person that Lexi ever seemed to listen to. Adam thought that it weas a feral thing; that the twins recognized that their mother was the leader of the pack. No one else was as able as she was to thwart her daughters' many attempts to torture him.  
  
/I'm going to get fried as soon as Shal leaves the room! / Jesse thought fearfully, watching the twins, who were winding garlands of tinsel around their waists, apprehensively.  
  
"Uncie Dess?" Isabelle looked up at him. "Santa tummin'."  
  
"Who told you that, Izzy?"  
  
"Gwamp." ALexis answered for her twin. "Me an' Izzy good." She added, just in case there was any confusion.  
  
/I'm not so sure about that! / Jesse thought wryly.  
  
* * *  
  
The twins, bathed and dressed in little white footie pyjamas, were carried down to the rec room in their parents' arms to say goodnight and to see the Christmas trees lit up in all their glory.  
  
From her perch in Shalimar's arms, Isabelle regarded the transformed rec room in awe and delight.  
  
"Pitty!" She pronounced, before putting her arms around her mother's neck and kissing her cheek. "Mamma pitty too."  
  
Brennan beramed at his daughter. "You've got that right, Izzy-lizard."  
  
Little Alexis tugged on a lock of her father's hair to get his attention. "Me an' Izzy good." She reminded him.  
  
Brennan raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"  
  
She scowled at him, flashing her eyes feral.  
  
He chuckled, hugging her. "I'll take your word for it, Lexi."  
  
"I told the girls about Santa Claus today." Adam explained. "And that he only gives presents to good children. Lexi is making sure that she isn't left out."  
  
"Me an' Izzy good." Lexi reiterated yet again, frowning reprovingly as the five adults burst out laughing.  
  
In truth, although the Fox-Mulwray twins *looked* positively angelic with their blond curls, large dark brown eyes and cherubic faces - very like Shalimar as a baby - they caused more havoc in Sanctuary than Mason Eckhart and a hundred GSA agents ever could - also very like Shalimar as a baby - and were as far from being angels as it was possible for any child to be.  
  
Their powers were developing at an extraordinary rate and their physical and mental development was well ahead of schedule.  
  
As soon as her father put her down, Lexi crawled across the room towards the tree and sat down in front of it, eyeing the baubles greedily.  
  
"Hey, Lexi!" Emma called out, trying to distract the mischievious baby before she pulled down the tree. "Look what Aunt Emma bought for you." She held out two Christmas stockings made of green and red felt and trimmed with white faux fur, eached marked with its owner's name.  
  
Alexis accepted the stocking Emma handed her, eyeing it curiously for a moment beefore putting it in her mouth.  
  
"Yucky!" She exclaimed, spitting out the offending taste. "No lah!" She reproved the giggling Emma.  
  
Emma schooled her features into an expression of solemnity so as not to hurt the baby's feelings. "Lexi, sweetie, you don't eat the stocking, you hang it up so that Santa can put toys in it for you."  
  
Isabelle looked up. "Santa?" Her eyes were wide.  
  
"Toy?" Alexis beamed. "Me good."  
  
"I know." Emma lifted her up. "And Santa Claus is going to come to Sanctuary just to see you and Izzy, isn't he, Jesse?"  
  
"But Santa isn't going to come until you go to sleep." Shalimar warned, bouncing Izzy in her arms before setting her on the floor so that she could crawl over to the others. "So say goodnight."  
  
For once, the twins didn't fuss to stay up and remained cheerful as they were passed from person to person for their nightl;y round of goodnight kisses.  
  
Once the chorus of 'night-nights' died down, Shalimar and Brennan took their daughters from Adam and carried them to their bedroom where two pink cribs, each with it's owner's name stencilled in pale blue, stood.  
  
As soon as they were tucked in, Alexis and Isabelle closed their eyes and went to sleep without any of their usual fuss, as if determined to make morning come as soon as possible.  
  
"Wow!" Brennan exclaimed softly, looking down at his transformed daughters. "I wish that it could always be Christmas!"  
  
TBC.  
  
*  
  
This chapter is meant more as an introduction to the twins than anything else. I'll update as soon as possible. Next Chapter: Santa's arrival. Reviews are always welcome. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I am trying to find a Christmas stocking big enough to hold all of the characters in 'Mutant X' as well as the magic piece of paper that says they're mine, in the hopes that Santa Claus will come through, but so far, I haven't had any luck. Sadly, at this time, 'Mutant X' and its characters do not belong to me. Lexi and Izzy do.  
  
Author's Note: I apologise for the delay in getting this chapter posted but my History project was being annoyingly time consuming. Stupid school! Classes finish on the 19th so, with any luck, future chapters will be quicker.  
  
Author's Note II: I haven't decided whether or not to include New Years Day and the twins first birthday in this story. Any advice?  
  
Words in / / = Thoughts.  
  
Words in * * = Italics.  
  
By the way, if anyone knows how to post stories with formatting, could they please e-mail me with instructions? Thanks.  
  
*  
  
Chapter 2.  
  
Christmas morning.  
  
"Jesse?" Emma spoke in a whisper, so as not to wake the sleeping twins. "Are you ready?"  
  
"Do I have to?"  
  
"Yes!" His four teammates hissed in unison.  
  
He sighed in resignation, wishing to be anywhere but there. "Then I'm ready."  
  
* * *  
  
"Lexi?" Shalimar spoke softly, gently stroking her daughter's hand to rouse her. "Wake up, honey."  
  
Lexi's eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright, rubbing sleep sand away with an impatient hand.  
  
"Mamma?" She held out her arms to be lifted. "Where Izzy?" She demanded.  
  
Shalimar, cuddling her daughter in her arms, nodded towards the second crib, where Brennan was trying to rouse Isabelle, who was fast asleep and determined to stay that way.  
  
"Come on, Izzy-lizard." Brennan wheedled. "Don't you want to come to see your new toys?"  
  
The baby girl stirred, yawning.  
  
Alexis's eyes gleamed. "Toy?" She asked excitedly. Her mother nodded. "Up, Izzy!" She commanded her lazy twin. "Toy!"  
  
Whether it was her sister's command, or the prospect of new toys was unknown but Isabelle pulled herself into a sitting position and allowed Brennan to lift her out of her crib and carry her down to the rec room.  
  
* * *  
  
"Ssh!" Alexis commanded as soon as they stopped outside the rec room.  
  
Isabelle's eyes lit up at the sound of bells ringing. She tugged at her father's dressing gown. "Lis."  
  
Brennan, trying not to smile, cocked one ear and pretended to be listening intently. "I don't hear anything, do you, Shal?"  
  
Shalimar shook her head solemnly, frowning playfully and tickling Lexi's stomach. "I think that the girls are playing a trick on us."  
  
"No, Mamma." Isabelle insisted. "Lis!"  
  
The twins watched as their parents repeated their performance, allowing looks of amazement to spread across their faces as they heard the bells.  
  
"Wow." Brennan gasped in mock-surprise. "I wonder what that could be."  
  
"Let's check it out." Shalimar suggested, seconded by an enthusiastically nodding Alexis.  
  
Exchanging a small smile, Shalimar and Brennan carried their daughter's into the rec room, savouring their babies' wonder when they saw who was waiting there.  
  
"Santa!" The twins chorused, clapping in delight.  
  
* * *  
  
/Man! / Jesse thought, resisting the urge to pull off his beard. /Next year, I'm not letting Emma pile so many pillows on. I'm melting in here! /  
  
For all his determination, however, he knew perfectly well that if Emma took it into her head to dress him up as the Easter bunny or - Heaven forbid! - Barney, that he would be powerless to resist her and, despite his reluctance to don the stiflingly hot and completely ridiculous costume Emma had insisted on - not to mention the half a bottle of perfume she had doused him with, for fear of the twins recognizing his scent - he was enjoying the delight that Alexis and Isabelle took in his presence.  
  
/At least they're not trying to shock me! /  
  
The little girls sat on his lap, one on each knee as he opened the red velvet sack revealing a king's ransom in toys.  
  
"Now," He put on his best deep voice. "Have you girls been good this year?"  
  
"Ess." Lexi answered decisively. "Me an' Izzy good."  
  
Isabelle, struck dumb with shyness, didn't say a word.  
  
"Have you behaved yourselves all year? Did you do as you were told? Have you been torturing your Uncle Jesse?" He asked pointedly, narrowing his eyes.  
  
"Ess." Alexis confessed frankly, not intimidated in the slightest. "Toy now."  
  
Jesse knew when he was beaten. Conscious of the eyes of his four teammates - not to mention Adam's camera - he started digging into the bag, pulling out two of everything; plush stuffed animals, matching rag dolls, infant sized basketballs - donated by Brennan - and tiny basketball shirts and a wide assortment of costumes and miniature make up kits for playing dress- up.  
  
Isabelle kissed 'Santa's' well-rouged cheek and whispered 'Tank you.'  
  
Alexis, reminded of her manners, repeated her sister's thanks and returned her attention to her new toys for a moment before looking up. "Now Mamma." She demanded. "An' Dada an' Gwamp."  
  
"An' Uncie Dess an' An' Em, pwease?" Isabelle, the politer of the two, asked softly.  
  
Emma, always organised, had been ready for this demand and Jesse/Santa was well prepared. He gave the two women large stuffed animals - a lion for Shalimar (obviously) and a polar bear for Emma. Brennan accepted a new basketball and Adam looked rather wary of the game of Twister he was presented with.  
  
"Where Uncie Dess?" Alexis asked, perplexed, when it was time for him to receive his gift.  
  
"Uncie Dess gone." Isabelle looked ready to cry.  
  
"No, no, Uncle Jesse isn't gone. He's just. . ." Shalimar looked around the room for inspiration. "On an errand for Santa. Right, Santa?" She shot Jesse a pointed look.  
  
"That's right." Jesse said in his deep 'Santa' voice. "Your Uncle Jesse is, uh . . . making a few deliveries for me."  
  
Isabelle smiled, satisfied with his answer.  
  
Jesse handed her a computer game. "Will you give this to your Uncle Jesse?"  
  
"Ess." Isabelle took the game from him and started chewing on it.  
  
Giving in to her friend's pleading look, Emma rescued his computer game from Isabelle's mouth and put it up on a shelf, out of the twins' reach.  
  
"You'd better be getting back to the North Pole, Santa." Adam suggested, speaking for the first time, seeing that the twins were distracted by their new toys and not likely to fuss.  
  
Jesse seized at the chance to escape. He bent down to receive the twins' wet kisses and straightened, picking up his empty sack.  
  
/Oh, what the Hell! /  
  
"Ho! Ho! Ho!" Jesse gave his farewell performance all he had. "Merry Christmas!"  
  
"Bye-bye." Alexis and Isabelle waved frantically.  
  
"See you next year." Brennan added playfully.  
  
/Not if I have anything to say about it! /  
  
TBC.  
  
*  
  
I'll have Chapter 3: The rest of Christmas Day up as soon as possible. Please keep up the reviews. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Mutant X and its characters are not mine. . .yet. Alexis and Isabelle belong to me.

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank Sunstar2 for her advice on posting stories with formatting. Finally – I can italicise again!

*

**Chapter 3.**

_A few hours later._

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Nicholas Fox, in an exceptionally good mood after returning from six months of travelling, called out his greeting as soon as Jesse had opened the hatch of the Double Helix, beaming at everyone (except Adam of course) as he entered Sanctuary. He hugged Shalimar tightly. "How's my baby girl?"

"Fine, Dad." Shalimar could barely breathe.

"So how are my granddaughters?" Nicholas asked eagerly. "It's been far too long since I've seen them."

They're in here." Shalimar led her father to the rec room where Alexis and Isabelle, dressed in adorable matching Christmas dresses of dark green velvet with crimson sashes, were playing quietly with their new toys under Brennan's supervision.

"Hi, girls." Nicholas crouched down gingerly looking from one little girl to the other. He looked up at his daughter with a quizzical expression. "So, who's who?"

"Izzy's the one cuddling her teddy, Lexi's the one trying to eat hers." Adam told him from the doorway.

The other man glared at him. "I asked _Shalimar_."He said pointedly. 

Adam just smiled, not willing to get into another shouting match.

Lexi looked up at the new arrival, a dim cloud of recognition stirring in her memory but the identity of the smiling stranger eluded her. "Who dat?" She demanded, looking up at her mother.

"I guess it has been too long." Nicholas said apologetically. "I'm your Grandpa, sweetie."

Isabelle looked up, an expression of confusion in her chocolate brown eyes. She pointed to Adam with a chubby finger. "Dat Gwamp." She protested, not understanding why this stranger insisted on going by Adam's name.

The twins hadn't really been talking much when Nicholas had decided that it was time he saw more of the world and had left on his trip and, as a result, he had not been present when they had assigned names to everyone. Shalimar and Jesse had joked that Adam was the girl's honorary grandfather and the name had stuck. 

Shalimar held her breath, waiting for her father to start raging at Adam for usurping his place but, miraculously, he held his temper.

"He's not your Grandpa, girls, _I_ am." He tried to persuade them.

Lexi sighed with the air of a long-suffering parent trying to tell a stubborn toddler that the sky _wasn't _green. "You no Gwamp." She explained patiently. She pointed at Adam. "Dat Gwamp."

Izzy nodded firmly, determined to back up her sister.

Brennan, seeing that the twins were not going to be swayed from their arguments, came to his father-in-law's rescue. "This is your, er. . .other Grandpa." He explained.

"Oda Gwamp." Isabelle tried out the new name.

Alexis beamed, glad to see the situation resolved. "Hi, Oda Gwamp." She squealed, waving at the not overly happy Nicholas.

Adam could barely keep himself from smiling at the look on the other man's face.

"Oda Gwamp?" Izzy looked up at him with a shy smile. "Santa tame." She showed him her teddy bear. "'Ook."

"Wow!" Nicholas feigned astonishment. He pulled over two piles of gaily-wrapped parcels. "But look at what I've brought you."

Lexi grinned up at him, her eyes bright. "Toy?"

* * *

_Later that evening._

With two playful infants present, this year's Christmas meal was louder, messier and far more cheerful than the previous year.

Lexi had taken a dislike to the Brussel sprouts that Emma had prepared and spent the meal lobbing them at the poor soul who had the misfortune to be seated opposite her highchair.

This happened to be Jesse and the poor man spent most of the meal ducking under the table, desperate to find cover. Lexi's aim was accurate and the other adults, including Shalimar who might have been able to put a stop to it, were laughing too hard to be of any help to him.

Little Isabelle, looking as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, waited until the attention of all the adults was focused on Alexis, then she slyly tipped her Brussel sprouts onto her sister's plate, doubling her supply of ammunition and sat back, smiling angelically, as though she would never have caused a moment of trouble.

Jesse waited until Alexis ran out of missiles before he dared to crawl out from under the table, sheepishly avoiding his dining companions' eyes.

Everyone had more or less finished the main course so Brennan and Emma cleared away the plates before dessert – a sumptuous chocolate mousse smothered in whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate shavings – was served.

Shalimar caught sight of Jesse loading his spoon with food and taking aim.

"Jesse Kilmartin, if you throw that at my daughter I will beat the shit out of you!"

"Shalimar!" Her father scolded automatically. "Language!" it took him a moment to realise what he had said and he felt his cheeks grow warm. "That took me back." He chuckled. "I haven't had to say that in years."

Shalimar ignored her father's interruption and continued to glare at Jesse, who meekly laid down his spoon.

"She started it!" He muttered grumpily.

Alexis gave him a cheeky, triumphant grin, exchanging a conspiratorial glance with her twin.

"Lexi! Izzy! No!" Emma cried out, guessing their plan, but she was too late to stop them.

In a single, coordinated movement, the Fox-Mulwray sisters had snatched up their dessert bowls and tipped the contents over their heads.

* * *

"Was I the only one who felt a sense of _déjà vu_?" Jesse asked a little later when they were assembled in the rec room.

Brennan and Emma had nodded.

Nicholas laughed. "Shalimar used to do that all the time when she was little."

"We know." Jesse told him. "Believe me."

The older man's expression was a study in bewilderment. "How. . .?"

Jesse's face lit up. "Shal didn't tell you?"

"Just something that happened a year ago." Emma said hastily, knowing that her friend would kill them if her father found out.

"You wouldn't be interested." Brennan assured him.

"I have tapes, if you like." Jesse offered generously.

"Don't even think about it!"

Shalimar and Adam, carrying the now clean and pyjama-clad twins, entered the room in time to hear Jesse's suggestion.

After putting her Isabelle down and motioning to Adam to do likewise with Alexis, Shalimar fixed Jesse with her most intimidating glare.

"Come on, Shal." Jesse wheedled. "I think that your dad and the twins would like to see the videos."

"If you even think about showing my daughters that film, I'll show them 'Uncle Jesse with his head in the toilet bowl', do I make myself clear."

"And I'll teach them a little game I like to call 'Shock the Molecular'." Brennan threatened. 

Jesse, his eyes wide, nodded his understanding.

Shalimar waited until the twins had finished their nightly round of 'night-nights' before picking them up and carrying them away to their room.

"What's the matter, Brennan?" Jesse asked, looking betrayed. "I thought you _liked _my film. Why can't I show it to the twins?"

Brennan gave him an exasperated look. "Are you kidding me?" He asked incredulously. "Lexi and Izzy get into enough mischief already without Shal's inspiration! I don't want you giving them ideas!"

TBC.

*

Thanks for the reviews, I'll update as soon as I can.

Next chapter: The Twins' First Birthday.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Although I hope that the situation will have changed by tomorrow, at this point 'Mutant X' and its characters do not belong to me. I also didn't write 'Wind Beneath my Wings'. I own Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray, but that's it.

**Author's Note: **I had hoped to get this chapter updated before now but better late than never.

**Author's Note II: **I'd like to wish everyone who reviewed and anyone else who might be reading this a Merry Christmas/Hanukah/Solstice/etc.

**Author's Note III: **The next story in this series will take place when Lexi and Izzy are two and a half. I should be able to post it in the New Year. For those who requested it, this story _will _include a Jesse/Emma pairing.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 4.**

New Year's Eve. 

_"Did you ever know that you're my hero?_

_You're everything I would like to be._

_I can fly higher than an eagle_

_'Cause you are the wind beneath my wings."_

Shalimar turned to her husband in a fury, her eyes flashing feral. "What did I tell you about getting my father drunk?!" She asked angrily.

Brennan shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."

* * *

_The next day._

Much to Emma's dismay, Shalimar and Brennan had tactfully but firmly refused her offers to help them organise the twins' first birthday party. They were determined to make all of the preparations.

Although Jesse was sympathetic, he couldn't help feeling relieved that the arrangements were out of her hands – he wouldn't have put it past Emma to dress him up in a clown costume and have him make balloon animals.

The team must have learned their lesson about overindulging the previous year because, whether from fear of being called upon to save a New Mutant in danger or fear of Adam's hangover cure, they had been fairly careful with regard to their intake of alcohol and none of them had suffered more than a mild headache.

Poor Nicholas was another story.

The older man had been rather in askance of his son in law's punch at first but after a few minutes (and a generous tumbler of the ruby red concoction) his concerns had vanished and he had single-handedly finished at least half of the not inconsiderable supply of the drink Brennan had prepared.

It was only thanks to his daughter that Jesse had been prevented from filming him as he sang songs he would never have wanted anyone to know he listened to and regaled them with tales of Shalimar's antics as a small child.

The twins had found his drunkenness highly comical, although he could have done without Alexis's electric shock to 'wake' him.

* * *

"Somebody kill me, _please_!" Nicholas moaned, burying his head in his hands.

"It serves you right for overdoing it." Shalimar told him unsympathetically, not looking up from the birthday cake she was icing.

He glared at her. "I'm your father. _I'm_ supposed to say that to you. Not the other way around."

"I don't have a hangover." Shalimar retorted unrepentantly. 

"Remind me to kill Brennan." Nicholas's stomach gave a lurch and he came close to throwing up.

"The after effects of his punch, is it?" Adam asked sympathetically, coming into the kitchen in time to hear the other man's last remark. "We can't get him to tell us what's in it."

For once, Nicholas was too miserable to insult Adam. "Yeah, whatever he put in it, it's potent. And I'm getting no sympathy!" He glared pointedly at his daughter.

Shalimar just made a face.

Adam patted his shoulder. "Come on, Nicholas, I've got just the thing for you." He saw Shalimar's eyes widen as she realised exactly what he planned to give her father. Ignoring her, he continued to speak in a friendly, sympathetic tone, rejoicing inwardly at the thought of getting his revenge for the many insults, veiled and outward, that he had received from the other man. "I made this for Shalimar and Jesse when they were younger and they overdid it and it has never once failed to cure all symptoms."

"That's sounds great." Nicholas said gratefully, following Adam out of the room trustingly.

A minute later, his angry bellow echoed through Sanctuary.

"YOU GAVE MY DAUGHTER THIS TERRIBLE STUFF!!!"

Shalimar stifled the smile she felt tugging at her lips.

She didn't think that her father was ever going to overdo it in Sanctuary again.

* * *

Little Alexis howled lustily as her father rinsed the shampoo out of her eyes.

Brennan winced as Isabelle joined in, adding her sympathetic cries to the din. He was glad that the water weakened his daughters' abilities; otherwise he would have been fried.

He deeply regretted allowing his wife to take the relatively simple job of baking the birthday cakes.

_/Next year, Shal's getting them ready for the party! /_ Brennan vowed to himself as he tried to restrain Alexis, who was attempting to climb out of the tub.

* * *

Choosing toys for one year olds was never an easy task, as Jesse had found when he went to the mall to find birthday gifts for the twins.

Alexis and Isabelle already possessed an impressive stash of toys and Christmas had left their already full playroom almost completely crowded with their possessions. 

It wasn't a case of finding them a suitable toy; Jesse had to find a suitable toy that they didn't have already.

He had refused Emma's generous offer to help him pick something out and was about to give up and beg one of the salespeople for advice when he spotted the perfect gift.

* * *

As she had expected, Shalimar's cake decorating duties were finished long before Brennan had the twins bathed and dressed for their birthday party.

She was greeted with wet kisses from her two daughters and a relieved 'thanks' from her husband when she joined them in the twins bedroom.

She took the squirming Alexis from Brennan and smiled as the baby immediately calmed down.

"I don't know how you do it." Brennan complained. "It's not fair!"

* * *

Adam, Nicholas, Emma and Jesse commenced a chorus of 'oohs' and 'aahs' when Shalimar and Brennan entered, carrying the twins in their arms.

The infants were dressed in very pretty – and very impractical – party dresses of white frilly organdie with soft blue sashes. With their softly curling blond hair secured with ribboned headbands, they looked angelic, innocent and appealing – nothing like the little demons they usually were.

Jesse tracked their movements with his camera, getting close up shots of the looks of astonishment and joy on their faces as Emma and Adam carried in their birthday cakes, each marked with their owner's name in pink icing. In deference to the three ferals' fear of fire, the candles weren't lit.

Isabelle applauded as the six adults sang 'Happy Birthday' and Alexis beat out the time with her spoon like an insane conductor.

"Toy now!" Lexi demanded as soon as the chorus was finished, her eyes fixed on the pile of gifts on the table.

"Ess." Izzy seconded her twin's request with an enthusiastic nod. "Pwease?" She added politely, smiling sweetly at her parents.

Emma, Shalimar, Brennan and Nicholas had contented themselves with stuffed animals, two tea sets (donated by Emma) and cribs for their dolls. Adam's gift of a pair of brown rocking horses had been met with appreciative applause from both girls and a contented smile from Brennan, who hoped that he would now be freed from his 'horsey' duties.

It was left to Jesse to bear away the palm with regard to birthday gifts – he had bought and assembled a playhouse for the babies, who rewarded him with wet kisses and tight hugs.

"Alright, guys." Shalimar interrupted her daughters, who seemed to be determined to strangle Jesse. "Time to cut the cake."

"Take!" Lexi shouted jubilantly, eagerly trying to snatch the knife from her mother's hand. "Me tut take!"

"Not a chance, little girl." Brennan told her firmly, shuddering at the thought of his hyper eldest daughter armed with a sharp object.

Lexi growled at him, flashing her eyes feral. Izzy frowned at him with an adorable pout.

Their grievance was forgotten, however, when Shalimar handed them their bowls, each holding a generous slice of their creamy birthday cake.

Disregarding the groans of the adults, the twins dug in immediately, quickly becoming messy and happy.

* * *

_Later that night._

"One year over already." Brennan mused as he and Shalimar put the twins, now very full and half asleep, to bed. He leaned over to wipe away the ring of cream around Isabelle's mouth. 

Shalimar smiled wryly, rocking Alexis in her arms waiting for her to drowse off. "We survived." She said, settling Alexis in her crib. "More importantly, so did they."

Brennan leaned forward, brushing a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you."

Shalimar moved closer, deepening the kiss. "I know."

THE END.

The next part of the series, entitled (for the moment, at any rate) 'Babysitter' will be posted as soon as I can manage it. Thanks for all the reviews and encouragement. I'm glad you like the twins.


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